Federal Communications Commission FCC 11-74
STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN JULIUS GENACHOWSKI
Re:  Proposed Extension of Part 4 of the Commission’s Rules Regarding Outage Reporting to 
Interconnected Voice Over Internet Protocol Service Providers and Broadband Internet Service 
Providers, PS Docket No. 11-82
The recent devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan as well as the severe tornadoes that 
ravaged our South two weeks ago are reminders of how vital our communications networks are to 
everyday life. They also remind us how important it is that our communications networks are reliable and 
resilient in emergencies. 
When disaster strikes, the public must be able to make emergency calls to summon help, 
particularly those facing life-threatening situations. 
The FCC, along with our federal, state, and local partners, has important responsibilities to ensure 
that our country’s critical communications infrastructure remains working in times of crisis. Our current 
outage reporting requirements have been remarkably successful.
Within hours of Hurricane Katrina hitting land in 2005, the Commission’s outage reporting data 
quickly became the federal government’s best source of information about the conditions of critical 
communications infrastructure in the disaster area. This information improved first responders’ situational 
awareness, helping them quickly understand the damage that had occurred and speed their response.
Our outage reporting requirements have also helped us make our nation’s 9-1-1 system more 
reliable and resilient. Every day, more than 2 billion calls travel over America’s communications 
network. Compiling and analyzing outage reporting information from these networks has helped refine 
industry best practices, which in turn has reduced the number of communications outages across several 
categories.  
In the wireline category alone, our outage reporting requirements have reduced the estimated 
number of lost 9-1-1 calls by approximately 50 percent from their 2008 peak. Using reported information, 
Commission staff has been able to contact affected providers and establish data-driven collaboration.
The American communications landscape is changing. Unfortunately, our existing outage 
reporting requirements extend only to services delivered over legacy communications technologies – like 
traditional landline phones connected by copper wire – and not to service delivered over broadband 
platforms, like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).  
American consumers, businesses, and government increasingly rely on broadband networks and 
services, and broadband networks today carry a substantial volume of 9-1-1 traffic. 
Since 2005, the Commission has required providers of interconnected VoIP services to supply 9-1-1 
emergency calling capabilities to their customers as a mandatory feature of the service. Today, nearly 
thirty percent of residential calls are made over VoIP and other broadband-based platforms. 
So, if Hurricane Katrina were to happen again, or if there was another attack on American soil, 
we simply wouldn’t have the facts to ascertain the impact on our critical communications infrastructure. 
We wouldn’t know if people could call their hospital, their fire station or their local police department to 
get help. 
The Communications Act assigns the FCC important responsibilities with respect to public safety 
communications.  Our proposal today is also about fulfilling the critical role that the Commission has 
been assigned in the Nation’s emergency preparedness and response efforts. A Presidential Directive 
Federal Communications Commission FCC 11-74
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directs the Commission to “ensure continuous operations and reconstitution of critical communications 
and services.” A key component of living up to this responsibility is knowing when and where the 
communications infrastructure is not working.
The recent events in Japan confirm the importance of tracking and analyzing significant 
broadband outages. The March earthquake and tsunami not only killed or injured thousands of people in 
Japan, but also caused greater than $35 billion in property damage and extensive damage to Japanese 
communications networks.  
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the FCC’s Japanese counterpart, collects 
information not only about significant wireline and wireless outages, but also broadband outages. Because 
of this, immediately after the disaster, the Ministry was able to determine that approximately 500,000 
broadband circuits were disconnected or unavailable and take appropriate steps.
As we consider the record that develops, we will be mindful of constraints providers face – as we 
have for years while implementing our existing outage reporting requirements – while seeking deeper 
understanding of how outages can be minimized and emergency communications can be made more 
reliable. 
These matters will become even more important as we transition to and implement Next 
Generation 9-1-1, which is a priority for this Commission. The rules proposed in this item will provide 
the FCC with better data to evaluate the current reliability of our 9-1-1 system, and strengthen our 
nation’s entire communications infrastructure. They represent another delivery on the recommendations 
of the National Broadband Plan.
I thank the staff of our Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and Office of General 
Counsel for their excellent work on this item.